Chapter 3

I rushed back to the apartment complex as fast as I could.

Downstairs, I was met by the young couple who lived in Unit 1202.

The husband pointed furiously at the ceiling of their balcony.

“Ms. Bennett, just look at this! What the hell is going on?

“Water’s pouring down like it’s raining indoors! It even ruined the dryer I just bought. What on earth is happening in your apartment?”

I followed his finger and saw a huge patch of water stains spreading across their balcony ceiling. Water was still dripping steadily from above.

I immediately apologized, “I’m so sorry. I’ll go upstairs and check it right now. I’ll cover whatever damage was caused.”

After calming the neighbors down, I headed straight to the property management office.

Mr. Walls, the property manager, was a man in his forties. The moment he saw me, his expression turned apologetic.

“Ms. Bennett, it’s not just the water leak.

“We’ve received several complaints about your apartment recently. Most of them are about noise.

“Some residents have reported hearing men shouting late at night, children crying, and a dog barking.

“Aren’t you living alone?”

I let out a sigh, putting on an expression of helpless frustration.

“Mr. Walls, to be honest, I let my cousin stay there while she prepared for her college entrance exams. She promised me she’d be living alone.

“Instead, I only found out today that she moved her entire family in. There’s over five of them and a dog.”

Mr. Wall’s brow furrowed.

“Over five people? That violates our regulations.

“Our building rules state that no more than three people can permanently occupy a single apartment.

“And yours is a one-bedroom apartment. Having that many people living there creates serious fire safety concerns as well.”

“Exactly. I don’t know what to do.” I followed his lead.

“I told them they had to leave, but they refused. They even changed the locks. I couldn’t get into my own apartment this morning.”

“They changed the locks?” Mr. Wall’s expression immediately hardened.

“That’s a serious violation. They’re not allowed to make unauthorized changes to the property like that.”

I pulled out my phone and opened the recording I had made earlier. I lowered the volume so he could focus on the footage.

“Look. This was the situation this morning.

“That’s my cousin’s older brother at the door. Inside are my uncle, my aunt, my cousin, and her little sister.

“My own home has basically become a boarding house.”

As Mr. Walls watched the chaotic footage, his expression grew darker by the second.

“That’s outrageous,” muttered Mr. Walls.

I put my phone away and carefully let my helplessness show.

“Mr. Walls, what am I supposed to do now?

“They refuse to leave. The water damage still needs to be dealt with. The neighbor downstairs is waiting for compensation, but I can’t even get through my own front door.”

Mr. Walls pondered for a moment and replied, “Here’s what we’ll do, Ms. Bennett. We’ll send a maintenance technician over to inspect the leak first.

“And to determine who’s responsible and protect your interests, I think we should pull the security footage from outside your apartment.

“Let’s see exactly what’s been happening over the past month.”

That was exactly what I had been waiting to hear.

“Can we do that?” I deliberately let a trace of hesitation cross my face before giving a reluctant nod.

“I appreciate it, Mr. Walls.” I kept my smile polite. “If we can figure out what happened, it’ll give both me and the neighbors downstairs some closure.”

I made sure not to appear overly grateful or eager. But inside, I knew this was the piece of evidence I needed most.

Mr. Walls took me to the security control room.

The footage was crystal clear.

He had the staff rewind a little over a month ago, the day after I handed Zoe the keys.

On the screen, Zoe entered the apartment alone, dragging a small suitcase behind her.

Just two days later, the cameras caught my aunt and the little girl arriving with bags of groceries and household supplies. They unlocked the door with a key and went inside.

A week later, my uncle and Alex appeared.

Alex had a huge suitcase slung over his shoulder and was leading the little brown poodle by its leash.

Then came the most important piece of evidence.

About two weeks earlier, the footage showed a man wearing a “Quick Lock Locksmith” uniform working outside my apartment door for nearly half a day. Zoe stood beside him, watching.

When he finished replacing the lock, Zoe pulled several bills from her wallet and handed them to him. The locksmith handed her back her change.

The evidence was damning.

They had moved multiple people into my apartment without my permission, brought in a dog, and changed the locks without my consent.

Mr. Wall’s expression was full of anger.

He had his staff copy key moments of footage onto a USB drive — the clips showing all family members arriving with their luggage and the dog, along with the footage of Zoe hiring a locksmith to replace my locks.

Then he handed the USB drive to me.

“Ms. Bennett, this contains the security footage from your apartment.

“According to our building regulations, they’ve committed several serious violations.

“We can issue a formal violation notice requiring them to move out by a specific deadline.

“If they refuse to comply, we have the authority to take further measures, including cutting off their water and electricity.”

I took the USB drive and held it tightly in my hand.

“Thank you, Mr. Walls. Really. Thank you.”

“No worries. Protecting our residents’ legal rights is part of our job.” He paused for a moment before adding, “As for the damage to Unit 1202 downstairs, we’ve also had a third-party assessor come take a look.”

“The ceiling repairs and the dryer repair are estimated at around five thousand dollars.”

Five thousand dollars.

I nodded. “Okay. I understand.”

After leaving the property management office, I did not go looking for Zoe and her family.

I knew this was still not the time to confront them.

The violation notice was only the first step. On its own, it would not be enough to scare them into leaving.

I wanted them gone for good. Also, I wanted them to pay for everything they had done.

I needed a spark, something that would set the whole thing off.

I glanced down at my phone. The family group chat was still buzzing with people tearing me apart.

My aunt had turned me into some coldhearted, money-obsessed ingrate who had apparently forgotten what family meant.

I gave a cold laugh and closed the app.

Then I sat in my car and waited. I knew they would come looking for me soon.

When it came to that five-thousand-dollar bill, there was no way they were going to pay a single cent.

Sure enough, half an hour later, my phone rang.

It was my aunt.

I hit record before answering.

Her furious voice exploded through the speaker.

“Celine! Look at you, getting all high and mighty! You actually went behind our backs and got the property manager involved?

“Don’t think we’re scared of you! So there’s a little water damage. Big deal!

“The people downstairs want five thousand dollars? Get over here and pay for it!

“If you don’t come, we’re selling all your books to cover the bill!”

They wanted to sell my books.

Some of those books had belonged to my mother. They were rare, out-of-print editions, the most precious things I had left of her.

Something inside me snapped. I hung up and immediately dialed the police.

“Hello, I need to report a break-in.

“My property has been unlawfully occupied. They’ve seriously damaged my furniture, and now they’re threatening to sell my personal belongings.

“Yes. I have evidence of everything.”